Swapping Paint
by TornadoMoose
Summary: Kensi stepped closer to him, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. She looked down at her hands nervously, then back up to his eyes. Finally she answered, "I don't know if I have much to say about that. But I hate Christmas, Deeks. I really don't want to be alone in a cold, dark rack tonight." (Set after 4x10, "Free Ride")
1. Chapter 1

**Update: As promised, age corrections (because I can't count backwards from 12).**

 **A/N: Yeah, yeah. I know I should be working on "Hold 'Em" … and I am, I swear.**

 **If the setting doesn't immediately give it away, this is written to pair with the aircraft carrier episode: 4x10 ("Free Ride"). Another of my "missed opportunity" series, this is my take on how they could have ended up together on that ship.**

 **Disclaimer: Did you know that the Van Buren (the ship in this episode) doesn't even exist? It's been decommissioned since the 40's and wasn't even an aircraft carrier. Did you also know that I have zero financial ties or copyrights to literally anything? (Least of all any recognizable media).**

 **Rating: M for last chapter. It's grown out of control and needed a break so I could finish it up in two chapters. I could have typed 'penis' several times to make the first chapter M rated too (assuming you think 'penis' is a mature word)… but that seemed like overkill.**

* * *

"Wouldn't you rather be watching the snowfall from a hot tub out in Tahoe with me, than be stuck aboard this ship?" Deeks wondered aloud for maybe the third time that evening.

Kensi smiled and shook her head slightly. Again. She would never admit it out loud, but that sounded pretty nice right about now. Especially since they were stuck on this Naval aircraft carrier for another three nights.

Elsewhere in the dark and colorfully lit mess hall where they sat, sailors, Marines, and the odd contractor ate snacks and watched a Christmas movie projected against the steel hull. Hetty, and by extension the three remaining team members, had been invited to the officer's lounge by the Captain for what promised to be a rousing board game of Axis and Allies ("Like Risk on steroids, set in World War II," he had explained). Callen had accepted the offer, the two junior agents had politely declined.

"At this point, I'd rather just be in my rack and out of this uniform," she sighed to Deeks.

Deeks grinned at her from across the table at the image she had just conjured up for him, and Kensi scrunched her face in an attempt to suppress her own smile. To her relief, he let the comment slide.

"So don't read into this or anything, but I may literally need your help finding my way back to my room," he told her, rising to join her as she stood up.

"Your berth," she corrected him.

"Whatever."

"Sure you don't just want protection from those sailors who beat you up?" she asked him as they wove their way through the labyrinth of bulk heads and corridors.

"I can handle myself," he assured her with a cocky grin.

They dropped down a deck, and Kensi made an abrupt turn to head down a corridor behind the stairs. Deeks must have missed the corner, because he was no longer following her. Kensi doubled back to look for him and walked right into him as he stepped through the narrow bulk head. Her hands went automatically to his chest to steady herself as she fell back into the wall behind her. His hands found her hips in an attempt to regain his balance.

For a moment they just stared at each other in the dim light beneath the steel stairs. Their bodies were still pressed together and their faces were close enough that their breath mingled. She knew she should push him away; knew she should keep walking. But as he leaned forward tentatively, her fingers grasped at the material of his shirt. She closed her eyes, tilted her head, and welcomed the embrace of his lips with hers.

At her signs of encouragement, Deeks deepened the kiss. His breath had hitched in his lungs and his hands tightened their grip on her hips, sliding up and under the stiff material of her fitted uniform shirt. Kensi had just opened her mouth to his lips when she remembered herself and jerked away.

Deeks cleared his throat, and stepped back to give her space to move. Without meeting his bashful gaze, she walked around him and continued on her way. After regaining his composure, Deeks followed after her.

"So about that?" he called out to her, laughing weakly. "We should probably revisit that."

"I already told you, Deeks. Fraternization is forbidden on board. Not here, not now," she told him, hoping that just for once Deeks would let her off the hook. But knew she would have no such luck. After all, they had just kissed for the first time as themselves and _not_ undercover, and that was pretty huge.

"But you're not a real Marine, no offense," he reminded her. "And we're not undercover anymore."

"We sort of are," she contradicted him quietly. "We didn't just announce to the whole ship that we're all NCIS agents. Most of them don't know what happened."

"Okay. Then, so what if we get caught?" he asked, matching her pace so they could speak in low voices as they walked. "It's not like they'd go running to Hetty. And my undercover character isn't a jarhead or a swabie. I'm a civilian!"

She elbowed him in the side for his comments before admonishing him. "Be nice. And I'm dressed as an officer, and it's _very_ against regulations aboard a ship. 'Swapping paint,' they call it."

"'Swapping paint?'" he repeated, grinning. "I like that."

"You'd like it less if you were actually serving and you had to face a fine, a demotion, dishonorable discharge or even prison time," she said flatly, pausing to look at the bullseye numbers painted on the wall to her right.

"For a little panky?" he asked incredulously. "That's harsh."

"Rules are rules."

"So," he started, "that guy was willing to risk it all—"

"What guy?" she asked. Kensi was genuinely confused about what he was talking about as she tried to look like she actually knew where they were going. "The Marine officer? Lieutenant Abernathy?"

"Whatever, the _neanderthal_ was clearly a cougar hunter. Guy was like twenty four years old," he asserted.

' _Oh for the love of… that's what he was stuck on?_ ' she thought to herself. Realizing that she should be angry about the first half of his comment, she added, "Who exactly are you calling a cougar?"

"I'm just saying," he responded, putting his hands up in his own defense. "For you to have a star on your National Defense Service medal there," he indicates to the red and yellow ribbon on her chest, "you would have had to serve during the extended Persian Gulf war period ending in 1995. Making your alias a _minimum_ of thirty five. He would know that. You look good for thirty five, by the way."

"That's because I'm thirty—" she said with annoyance.

Interrupting her, he interjected, " _Sooo_ much younger."

"Then does that make you a cradle robber?" she asked him in an amused tone.

"What?"

"You just planted one on me. Clearly you're interested," she said, smiling outwardly and kicking herself inwardly for bringing it up again.

"Um, _you_ kissed _me,_ " he argued quietly, looking up and down the corridor to make sure they were alone. They had stopped walking and he turned to face her expectantly.

Kensi barked out an unconvincing laugh before replying, "Yeah right!"

"We can argue about that later," he said as they started walking again. "I meant the 'cradle robbing' comment. I am only a _few_ years older than you. And cradle robbers are women."

"Not always, and you're _actually_ thirty five," she pointed out to him.

"Thirty four. And not for another couple of weeks, I'm not!" he argued, intentionally missing the point.

"Hmm. Well, I wouldn't be believable as a Major were my alias much younger," she said, thinking a little harder on it. Suppressing the urge to tease him about 'checking out her ribbon rack,' she instead asked, "And how do you know all of that, anyways? About the devices on these ribbons?"

"I work for _Naval_ Criminal Investigative Service," he said dramatically. "Don't you think I bothered studying up on some basic military protocol, history, and insignia?"

"That would be the first I've heard of you voluntarily doing anything to advance your understanding," she joked at him.

"Or _maybe_ , I don't feel the need to solicit kudos from you and the rest of team hardcore just for perusing a few wikipedia pages," he replied with a tinge of bitterness.

That was fair. The team, herself included, was pretty hard on Deeks. They still treated him like a newcomer even though it had been almost three years since he had been tossed into their midst with no warning. He really was a remarkable operator, a loyal partner, a good friend, and a great kisser with hypnotic sea blue eyes. ' _No, stop!_ ' she reminded herself as she always did when her train of thought ran too close to how attractive her partner was… and how badly she wanted him.

The corridor they had been walking opened into a larger room with the depot and the supply office at the other end. Both were still manned, despite it being late on christmas eve, and a few sailors were taking stock of some supplies being put away. She stopped Deeks in the threshold before entering the area completely.

Kensi drew on her knowledge of how things worked on a ship at sea from past assignments with other departments in the agency. They weren't too far from the civilian berths she was leading Deeks too, but an idea occurred to her. Time would tell if it was a terrible or a wonderful one, but at that moment, she just didn't care.

Turning to Deeks so she could speak quietly, she nodded at the scene behind her. "See that petty officer behind that counter?"

"Yeah."

"That's the supply clerk," she informed him. "Go and tell him a sad story about why you need what's called a 'distinguished visitor' berth. You may need to bribe him."

"What?" he said skeptically. "Use your rank or your wiles and get your own damn fancy room."

"I can't. He thinks I'm an officer with the Marine Corps Military Police," she argued matter-of-factly.

Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, Deeks relented. "Fine. How much, do you think?"

"I don't know… like twenty bucks? I'll pay you back," she replied, shrugging to mask how nervous she was about what she had planned. "Shouldn't be too much because you're a civilian. Those private berths are meant for guests anyways. He's not helping you break the code of conduct like he would be if you were enlisted."

Deeks narrowed his eyes at her. It was clear that he knew she was up to something, but Kensi didn't think he had put it together quite yet. For someone who could read deep meaning behind each blink of her eyes, he sure could be daft about her actual intentions sometimes.

Doing as he was told, Deeks strode up to the young man in the dark blue work uniform, and made a show of looking at his name tape. "How's it going there? Uh, P-F-C Korslund."

"Sir?" the sailor responded, taking in the sight of Deeks.

"I was hoping you could help me out with something," he said, smiling casually. "I'm only supposed to be on this ship another few days, but the civilian contractor berths are all sorts of crowded since they shuffled us around after whatever that incident was earlier. Any chance I could get my hands on a key to a vacant distinguished visitor berth?"

Korslund considered Deeks for a moment and looked him up and down. Kensi remained hidden in the corridor as the exchange went down. "Scuttlebutt onboard is that you were there when that produce guy pulled a gun. Mighta had something to do with helping take him down. Might even be some kind of special NCIS agent."

"Come on," Deeks said incredulously. "Do I look like an agent? I can assure you I am not an N…CSI agent or whatever. Unless that will help me get that sweet berth. In which case, sure. Why not?"

The supply clerk nodded, and let a light smile peek through at Deeks' theatrics. "As it happens I've got three open. Only one's taken by some little woman who showed up out of nowhere on a hornet this evening."

"I'll take whichever one's farthest from hers," Deeks said quickly.

"Other side of the ship, if you'd like," he said before adding, "But… it'll cost you."

"How much?"

"Twenty dollars," the clerk said as he held his hand out.

Deeks started to reach for his wallet, "I can swing that—"

"A night. Plus a twenty dollar… _processing_ fee," Korslund clarified. "And you turn your bed out when you leave."

"Gah. Fine!" Deeks exclaimed, counting out several notes and handing them over in exchange for the labeled key the petty officer had retrieved from a lock box behind the counter.

Deeks returned to Kensi, who had been waiting for him down the hall.

"Here's your key," he said, handing it over. "You owe me eighty bucks."

Kensi read the number on the card attached to the ring and started leading them in a different direction. She pulled out her wallet before responding, "Eighty?!"

"Twenty per night plus a 'fee,'" he continued, looking at the money Kensi had just placed in his hand. "This is only forty!"

"Half is fair," she informed him, as they climbed into a more polished looking deck on the ship.

"In what world?" he asked, indignantly, turning his head to inspect their new surroundings.

"This one," she replied, referring to both his question and the numbered door they were approaching. "It's your room too!"

"Berth," he corrected, before he stopped short to look at her with a stunned expression. "Wait, what?"

* * *

 **A/N: I'm mean. So this seems like a good place to break while I finish up the last half of it.**


	2. Chapter 2

_He stopped short to look at her with a stunned expression. "Wait, what?"_

Kensi keyed the door and let herself in, leaving Deeks to stand dumbfounded in the hallway. After a moment, he stepped in after her and closed the door behind him. They were in a spacious berth (or as spacious as it got on a ship), with wood accented furniture bolted to the carpeted floor and paneled walls: a desk with a chair, a dresser, and a single bed against the wall. A second door led to a private bathroom.

Kensi took all of this in before turning around to face her partner again. He had followed her in, but had not taken his eyes off of the back of her head, and was now meeting her gaze directly, and intensely.

"Is this— are we finally talking about our _thing_?" he asked tentatively.

Kensi stepped closer to him, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. She looked down at her hands nervously, then back up to his eyes. Finally she answered, "I don't know if I have much to _say_ about that. But I hate Christmas, Deeks. I really don't want to be alone in a cold, dark rack tonight."

Quieting her restless hands with his, he looked at her warmly and told her, "Hey, I get it. But are you sure this is what you want? Cause if we do this, it'll change everything. And I'm not sure we'll be able to change it back."

"I know. But we'll figure it out," she said in almost a whisper. Squeezing his hands a little tighter, she leaned in to press a tender kiss to his lips. Pulling back to look at him again, she added, "We always do."

Releasing his hands, she reached up to her own head. She pulled off her green garrison cap and tossed it on the desk with one hand. Then she tugged at her tight bun, freeing her coif of wavy, if somewhat flattened, dark brown hair.

Deeks' hands had moved tentatively to her waist, and he watched her progress nervously as Kensi began to undo the buttons of her khaki uniform shirt. Half way up, she switched to work at the fastenings of his jacket and shirt. Deeks seemed to remember himself, and immediately busied his hands with Kensi's buttons where she had left off.

Just as she pushed his jacket from his shoulders, their lips met again in a frenzied kiss. Deeks slipped her shirt off and let it fall to the floor. Seeing this, Kensi abruptly pushed him away and bent down to retrieve it, brushing it off and smoothing the material as she set it flat on the desk.

"Are you kidding me?" Deeks asked, bemused and flustered. He was breathing quickly, and his hands were still held out in front of him where she had been standing in his arms only moments before.

"You want to explain to Hetty exactly how this uniform got dusty and wrinkled?" she asked, keeping him at arms length as she slipped off her shiny black boots and carefully removed and folded her green dress pants along the crease.

"You're supposed to be a master undercover agent," he teased, removing his undershirt as he was finally allowed to step into her space again. "I'm sure you'd come up with something."

Kensi let both her eyes and hands wander appreciatively over the muscles on his lean torso before her lids closed, and Deeks captured her lips with his again. Having no more material to grasp, she instead tangled her fingers in the shaggy hair at the back of his head. She was still wearing a cotton tank top, which Deeks had begun to pull up over her lithe body, revealing the utilitarian panties and bra beneath.

She had backed him up against the small bed. He let his knees buckle when his calves hit the edge of the mattress, and pulled her down with him. He squirmed to kick his shoes off while she shifted up his body. His focus was divided between the coordination of divesting himself of his remaining outerwear, and the heavenly sensation of Kensi's lips and tongue that had found their way to his again; and boy was his coordination loosing that battle.

"Are we— is this really happening?" he stuttered between sloppy kisses.

"Are you doing that thing where you talk about things again?" she countered just as ineloquently, sitting up to assist his fumbling hands with his belt buckle.

He grinned as he shifted so she could slide his pants down before responding, "It's what I do."

"Yeah, well don't," she said simply, running her hands over his bare thighs. She chuckled when he jumped as her hand brushed the growing bulge beneath his boxers.

"Would you rather I put my mouth to other uses?" he asked, pulling her chest flush with his again. His hands finally regained their dexterity as he fiddled with the clasp of her bra.

"Now you're getting it," she whispered into his ear, before pressing soft kisses along the ridge of his jaw and then his lips.

After a particularly slow and languid kiss, he groaned and added, "I can be a slow learner."

"Shut up, Deeks," she sighed, sinking into his kiss and ensuring that he wouldn't be able to speak again.

Deeks kept his lips pressed to hers as he rolled them. He sat up on his knees and made a gesture with his hands of locking his lips, then threw away the imaginary key. He chuckled when she smiled warmly at him, and finally pulled her loose hanging bra away.

Kensi stifled both a laugh and a shudder when she saw his jaw drop and heard his audible groan while he gawked at her uncovered breasts. He slowly lowered himself to her level, and settled his waist between her legs. Her breath hitched in her lungs when his lips finally made contact with the soft flesh of her breasts. His mouth was smooth, and warm, and in contrast to the harsh, chilly air in the cold ship. She arched into his welcoming embrace as he mouthed his way to one of her nipples, using his hands to push her pink bud to his lips.

All too soon, he broke contact with the soft mounds on her chest. But Kensi's momentary disappointment turned to anticipation as he shifted further down her body, leaving a trail of lazy kisses along her abdomen.

Seeking out her eyes as he slipped his thumbs below the fabric of her underwear, he asked sweetly, "You want me to take these off?"

"Mh-hmm," she nodded, running her hands through her own messy hair, as she couldn't reach any of his.

But Deeks didn't immediately remove her panties. Instead, he lowered his face to her clothed groin, and bit gently at the thin fabric with his lip-sheathed teeth. Kensi moaned and shifted into him, his hands holding her hips in place. Impatiently, she reached down to push at the cloth still frustratingly in place. Finally, he did as he said he would, and pulled them all the way down her never ending legs.

He returned to settle his shoulders between her legs, his face still far away enough that she could just barely feel his heated breath. He deliberately licked two of his fingers, and ran them slowly up and down between her folds, approaching but never touching neither her entrance nor her increasingly impatient bundle of nerves. He worked closer and closer, coaxing her clit out of its hood. When she was fully exposed, and her glistening lips parted, he pressed his fingers directly against the sensitive nub, eliciting a loud cry from her throat.

"Shhhh! Kensi!" he whispered harshly to her, smiling playfully. "These walls are steel, not sound proof!"

Kensi's first response was to grab his hair and shove his face back down. He didn't really need the encouragement though, and dove in with enthusiasm. The welcome addition of his lips and tongue served to work her into a frenzy. Kensi had to bite her own lip and dig her nails into the blanket to keep herself from crying out again. As it was, her breathing was ragged and sharp, her eyes scrunched closed as he pushed her crashing over the edge with his talented tongue.

She had surrendered to the waves of pleasure but soon became aware that her heels had dug into his back, and she was squeezing his head tightly between her thighs. Deeks gasped for air when she released him, and she smiled apologetically, reaching for his face as he climbed back up her torso.

She pulled him into a kiss and he groaned as she licked her own essence off of his lips. In some small act of retaliation, he pushed his fingers against her still pulsating bundle of nerves, causing her to gasp and writhe into him again.

Deeks settled down beside her, and pulled her in to cuddle.

"Well, that was amazing!" he exclaimed quietly while pressing his lips to her neck.

Kensi snapped out of her sated stupor to look at him incredulously. Rolling over to climb on top of him she asked, "You think we're already done?"

"God, I hope not."

"I don't suppose you have a condom?" she asked him, hoping she didn't have to decide whether or not she wanted to risk it.

"Actually, I do!" Deeks exclaimed excitedly. He reached for his pants on the floor beside the bed and fished a little gold packet out of his wallet.

"Good. Because it _feels_ like," she accentuated her words by gripping his hard shaft trapped beneath his boxers, "you've still got plenty to give."

"Heh, not if you keep touching me like that!" he panted through sharp breaths, letting Kensi take the condom from him.

She inspected the label briefly and guiltily tried not to smile when she read that the expiration date wasn't terribly far in the future. Not because she was embarrassed for him, but because she secretly hoped it meant that he hadn't had the need for an impromptu condom in a while. Perhaps not since their 'thing' had started to gain momentum this past year or so.

As Kensi prepared to peel away his boxers, she found herself more anxious than she cared to admit to finally see what her partner had been hiding beneath those jeans that clung to his butt so nicely. She could feel through the fabric that he was generously endowed, but she could not keep the smile from her face when she pulled down his underwear and discovered that his slightly above average length was accompanied by noticeably above average girth.

"Are you laughing at me?!" Deeks asked in alarm, his upper body visibly stiffening.

"No! No!" she assured him. "It's just… _more_ … than I had expected."

"And if it had been less?" he teased, smiling cockily.

"After what you did with your tongue and fingers," she told him, stroking his length, "I'm confident you could find a way to make it work."

Deeks chuckled in agreement as he took the opened condom from Kensi's fingers, and rolled it on his eagerly twitching cock. He helped guide himself to Kensi's entrance as she widened her straddle above his hips.

Kensi's eyelids fluttered, and she pressed her palms flat against his abs as she sank down slowly on him. She rocked gently back and forth, taking him a bit deeper each time. Deeks couldn't take his gaze off of her as he held his hands steady on her hips, and tried not to thrust up. Both partners let their sharp breaths turn into groans when he was finally sheathed completely inside her.

Perhaps a little too late, she was hit with the realization that this was actually happening. That her partner was buried blissfully deep within her, and that every jolt of pleasure she was feeling was from his touch. Unable and unwilling to follow that line of thinking any further, she lay flat to press her breasts against his broad chest, and her lips onto his eager mouth. Deeks groaned into the kiss and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, finally relenting and beginning to thrust up into her.

Deeks kept the pace slow to start. She didn't mind. She was still tight around him and reveling in the sensation of being filled so completely. She leaned forward a bit to allow his strokes to lengthen, and he also took it as an opportunity to latch onto one of her breasts again, stilling it with his mouth as she rode him. He moved his pelvis up and down, occasionally breaking his tempo so he could hold her hips in place and grind against her. She moaned each time he did, digging her fingers into his skin when the added friction hit her in just the right place.

Kensi could feel the sweet ache building up, and sat up so she could turn the gentle rocking of her hips into frantic bounces, each timed perfectly to slam down onto Deeks as he pushed up powerfully. Every time he filled her, she could feel herself squeeze around him. She held herself up on her arms, her fingers splayed on his chest and pinned his back into the mattress. His own hands gripped her ass and his heels dug into the sheets; he was fighting to maintain control for just a few ecstatic moments longer.

Kensi's intentional movements stilled considerably as she was overcome with tremors. Her inner walls fluttered around him but she was no longer able to meet his pace. She crashed down on top of him and gently bit his neck, panting Deeks' name into his ear as she lost her composure.

Hearing her groan his name in ecstasy seemed to be his undoing. Deeks' once methodic thrusts had devolved into erratic motions as he found his own release within a minute of hers. He pushed deep into her one last time, then froze to feel her still pulsing muscles contracting around him.

Completely spent, he lay beneath her for a minute more before gently encouraging her to roll off of him, whimpering in complaint as she did so. Kensi watched him sleepily as he crawled from the bed and dealt with the condom and the discarded wrapper. She started to tremble in the chilly air and shifted around to pull the covers up, but not before Deeks saw her shivering. He climbed back into the incredibly small bed and pulled her into his arms. Feeling the goosebumps on her skin, he affectionately rubbed the soft skin on her back.

Kensi sighed contentedly into his neck, where her face was buried. Shifting slightly, she could read that the small clock on the dresser showed 12:14 AM as the time. It would be nearly morning back home.

"Merry Christmas, Deeks," she told him, kissing his chest and the base of this throat.

"Merry Christmas, Kens," he responded warmly. "Well. It's not Tahoe, but this is still pretty great."

Laughing quietly and deciding that there was really only one course of action from here, she asked him, "So, how long did you say we had this berth for?"

* * *

Deeks had returned to his cover's civilian accommodations and tracked down a clean set of clothes, and Kensi was looking squared away in another variant of her Marine uniform. But they had yet to encounter any of their remaining co-workers that morning after reuniting, and hardly any non-essential members of the crew. It was a holiday, after all.

Their plan was to make use of their private getaway as much as they could for the next seventy two hours until they could fly home. Figuring things out could wait until then. In the mean time, they ventured out into the ship to track down some christmas breakfast. They also planned to eventually scrounge up some more condoms if the rest of their time on the ship was to be enjoyable. Kensi had learned of an inconspicuous 'free' stash near the medical bay while searching the ship for drugs undercover. The medical officer had told her that despite regulations, it was better to leave them out and not ask questions than to deal with the consequences.

There was still no sign of Callen or Hetty, but there were more people congregated in the mess by the time they arrived. So when they had gotten their food and sat down at a table by themselves, they spoke in lower voices.

"It was pretty cute how concerned you were about me yesterday when you rescued me from that trash can," Deeks said to his partner from across the table over a tray of french toast and sausages.

"Well," she began, smiling at him for the hundredth time already that morning. "It would have been a shame to let a good partner… _go to_ _waste_."

"That was bad," Deeks groaned, shaking his head and trying his hardest not to laugh.

"Was not!" she replied defensively, still very pleased with herself and her little joke.

"I would have gone with: You can't just… _trash_ such a great partner," he offered as an alternative, ducking to avoid the tiny bit of crust she had flicked at his head.

"Both of you," a familiar, scolding tone called out. Hetty had appeared unnoticed at the head of their table and was looking back and forth between the bantering partners. "Your puns," she started again, staring sternly at the mess they were making, "are utter _rubbish_."

* * *

 **A/N:** **This accidental two-shot has turned into an unintentional social experiment. And if there was any doubt before, after reading your comments I now know exactly what you were waiting for. Hopefully this chapter was** ** _satisfying_** **in that regard.**

 **This is where I intend to end it. Though I give it a 17% chance that sometime in the future** **I might add an addendum set in Tahoe.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews and such. It means a lot that you've taken the time to do so.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: What?! Swapping Paint is back? Due to high interest and my own active imagination, I decided to add on to this little story a bit more.**

 **In case you missed the first two chapters and came here directly from the email alert link, this is a reminder that I write almost exclusively M rated content. This chapter is not an exception.**

* * *

"Why are you so late?" Kensi hissed at him from down the corridor as they both walked towards the door between them from opposite ends. "We were supposed to meet here fifteen minutes ago!"

"Then why are _you_ just getting here?" Deeks countered as they stepped through the door and into the distinguished visitor's berth they had bribed their way into yesterday.

"I had to ditch Hetty and Callen. They were practically interrogating me when I got up to leave. What's your excuse?" she asked.

"Well I had to wait patiently and use my ninja skills to grab some of these," he informed her once the door was closed behind them. He pulled from his pocket a string of condoms that he showed off triumphantly.

"Ninja skills?" she repeated sarcastically, already unbuttoning her shirt. "You're too embarrassed to be seen grabbing some condoms?"

"I don't need that hassle," he answered.

Deeks tossed his shirt aside and stepped into her space to help her shed the button down she had finally unfastened. As he set it carefully on the desk behind her, he fervently pressed a kiss to her lips. Kensi welcomed his embrace and wrapped her arms around his shoulders to pull him against her.

In the hours that had passed since they had left their little sanctuary that morning, Kensi's only thoughts had been about returning to it. Really, she would much rather be in a more secluded, comfortable, and warmer location with her partner— recently turned lover, but she was willing to take what she got.

Kensi considered that she should be more concerned about the strength of her feelings for him, and just how much he invaded her thoughts. She didn't like to be this preoccupied about him, and on some level believed herself to be above such infatuation. But willing her attraction to vanish wasn't working, so she embraced the opportunity that was before her and enthusiastically welcomed the attentions of a man who had already proven himself capable of giving her exactly what she wanted.

She pushed on Deeks' shoulders with her hands, not taking her lips from his until he sat down on the bed she had guided him to. Looking down at him with a smile, she stepped out of the remainder of her clothes until she was wearing only her underwear and bra. He returned her gaze expectantly, letting his eyes wander hungrily over her body.

Walking over to the desk where he had dropped the condoms, she asked him, "So it was difficult to sneak a few of these away?"

"Well," Deeks shrugged in a cocky tone, "I wouldn't say it was difficult. Not for someone of my skill. It just took a little time to do it stealthily."

Tearing one package off from the rest, she walked over to where he waited impatiently on the bed. She stood between his legs and unclasped her bra, letting her breasts fall free only inches from his wide blue eyes. Deeks couldn't resist the temptation and leaned forward to bury his face, kissing the soft skin of the valley between them. Kensi indulged him for only a few seconds before slowly lowering herself to kneel on the floor.

"Here," she said as she pressed a palm to his chest, pushing on him until he leaned back further on his elbows. "Let me help you with this."

Deeks had already undone his belt buckle, so Kensi had only to unbutton and unzip his jeans. She trailed her fingers softly down the trail of barely visible golden hairs on his abdomen, and hooked the waistband of his exposed boxers down. First, just the base of his growing erection was revealed, then the rest strained at the fabric until it was able to spring free.

Massaging his balls and tugging lightly on his shaft, she smiled to herself before turning her gaze up to Deeks' dumbstruck face. He was looking down at her with tenderness and awe, even as his breathing was already growing harsher from his excitement.

Planting a wet kiss on the base of his cock, she mouthed and licked her way up the hot skin of his shaft until she got to the tip. Then slowly, she swirled her tongue around the head before wrapping her lips around him and taking him into her mouth.

Deeks groaned and leaned back further, letting his head hit the paneled steel wall with an audible clang. But if he was in pain, he didn't show it. Instead, he moaned softly between his heaving breaths as she sucked on him. Occasionally, Kensi took her mouth off of him so she could breath deeper and tug her hand all the way up and down the length of him. And each time, she looked up at him to see that same awestruck look of elation as he watched her.

She wasn't sure exactly when she decided to finish him like this, but something about seeing the look on his face from what she was doing to him was sexy as hell, and she wanted to see it through. She redoubled her efforts and sucked on his now completely rigid shaft even harder. Her hand worked in tandem with her lips to stroke the part of his generous length that she couldn't take in her mouth. She half expected him to try and stop her, opting instead to hold off until he could be inside of her. But he was lost to the sensations, and all but paralyzed on the bed in front of her. She was so turned on by this, she let her free hand slide down from his knee and between her own legs, where she snuck it beneath her panties to play with the moisture beginning to form within her folds.

He kept his hands to himself, but his voice still worked. Between his soft groans, he whispered words of encouragement, telling her how good she was, and reminding her often that her name was Kensi.

Even before his groans turned harsher and he started to clench his butt and thighs, she could feel his cock start to throb in her hands and mouth. She had already tasted the trickle of precum that had started to seep from him almost the minute she had first touched him.

She pumped on him furiously with her hand as her lips and tongue worked to coax him over the edge. With a stifled groan, he came. His twitching cock practically jerked free from her mouth, causing his load to drip out from her lips until his shaft was coated with his own seed. He didn't seem to notice or mind though, as he had completely collapsed on the mattress.

Laughing at his crumpled and sated form, Kensi wiped both him and herself off with a near by tissue, then rose and walked to the bathroom to clean up. Deeks hadn't moved at all when she returned, and he put up no resistance when she tugged his jeans and boxers off completely. She removed her own underwear, and laid down patiently on the bed next to him.

He turned his head to look at her with a sated grin and heavy eyelids. Kensi wondered if maybe she did too well and he was about to pass out before she got her turn.

Lifting a hand, he curled a finger at her to beckon her over. She crawled closer to him and he grunted with the effort of rotating his body until he lay completely on the bed. Their bodies now pressed together, he pulled her face in for an affectionate kiss. It was slow and sweet, and she was still fairly certain that she was about to lose him to sleep.

But he surprised her, and with a burst of strength, managed to roll her over to her back. The haze was starting to leave his eyes, and was instead replaced with a fire. Abandoning her lips, he kissed his way down her jaw, neck and chest. He paused to toy with her nipples with the tip of his tongue; a promise of things to come. Before moving down her body, he took the chance to kiss each breast more fully, taking as much of her soft skin into his mouth as he could.

He moved with a speed and urgency she didn't know was still left in him, and it took her by surprise. She was hardly ready when he spread her legs and dropped his face between them. He used his fingers to part her folds and spread the wetness she had already worked up. With a look back up at her, he wasted no more time before planting his tongue directly on her clit.

It was Kensi's turn to moan now. Her panting was partially due to the sensations he was giving her, and partially the result of her effort to not cry out louder.

Remembering how his words had encouraged her, she called out to him, "Yes! Oh my god, Deeks!"

He moaned in response, and the vibrations from his low voice worked their way right to the heat building in her core. He switched seamlessly between sucking on her nub, licking up and down her folds, and teasing her clit with just the tip of his tongue; never letting her get used to each sensation for more than a few seconds.

By the time he snuck a finger in and curled it inside her, she was ready to combust. Her toes curled and her fingers dug into the sheets as the gentle pulses of pleasure exploded into a crescendo of spasms. Both her clit and her inner walls convulsed as the warm sensation spread out to the tips of her fingers and toes. For many seconds it carried on, and Deeks continued to kiss her heated flesh throughout. Then, the cold washed over her and the trembles turned into shivers.

Kensi released the tension she was holding in her muscles, letting her legs drape over his shoulders. Whatever energy Deeks had found seemed to be squandered, and he hugged her hips and lay his head down on her belly. Neither seemed to have the strength to do something about the cold.

"We're not even going to use that condom at this rate, are we?" she asked as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"We might," he answered against her rapidly cooling skin. "Just give me a few minutes."

To lend credence to his words, he freed himself from the tangle of her legs and crawled up to her level. She returned the brief kiss he offered before his head hit the pillow next to hers. Their arms wrapped around each other, and Kensi contentedly thought about how nice that had been, despite not actually having sex.

Just as she was about surrender to the idea of taking a nap until dinner, Deeks lifted his head to look at something in his hand.

"Hey, look what I found!" he exclaimed, holding up the unopened condom that had gotten lost on the bed.

Kensi shared a look with him, and slowly both partners started to smile mischievously. That look from him was all it took to stoke the flame in her again, and with energy she thought she had lost, she brought her lips to him and pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss.

Deeks shifted his body over hers and sat up on his knees. Kensi scanned his toned form and was impressed with how hard his dick had already grown. She watched him as he stroked himself for a minute. She didn't really need the stimulation, but she used her hand to rub herself, spreading the lips of her pussy open and giving him something more to look at as he stiffened in his own hands. He moaned softly at the sight of her, and must have decided that he was good to go, because he tore the condom from its package and rolled it onto his cock.

Kensi winced when he rubbed his tip against her clit, still sensitive from her recent orgasm. So Deeks instead nestled the head in her tight entrance, and slowly pushed in. She clenched around him, and they both moaned in unison as he filled her completely. She quickly stretched to let him in, and with how wet she was, he was able to start moving within her. But Deeks was in no hurry.

Preferring long strokes to quick ones, he rolled the whole lower half of his body with each thrust. Pulling almost all the way out, she could feel the head of his cock leave her pussy each time, before plunging back in. And every time he pushed all the way in, he was deep enough that she could feel his balls pressed against her ass.

As satisfying as using their mouths had been, she vastly preferred the feeling of having him inside her. It had the added bonus of leaving their lips free to kiss, to lick, to nibble. And though his hands were planted on the bed beside her, holding up his weight, hers were free to explore the hard muscles on his shoulders and back.

This time, they didn't speak. His mouth stayed attached to hers as he continued his slow tempo. But after a few minutes, Kensi unwrapped her legs from his waist and planted her feet on the bed so she could rock her hips up to meet his thrusts. This added to the friction between them, and as the tension started to build within her again, her motions grew faster. Deeks picked up on this, and quickened his pace.

Soon, their movements were nothing short of frantic as their bodies clapped against each other's. Kensi was no longer stroking his muscles but was now gripping his shoulders and holding on tightly. Deeks finally had to tear his lips from hers so he could breath freely as he slammed into her repeatedly. His face showed the strain of holding himself back just a minute longer.

Kensi's inner muscles had started to throb and twitch almost the moment he entered her, and she had thought she already came; a weaker second orgasm when compared to the first. But when his shaft rubbed against her clit again, she reached a new high and crested over the edge of a breathtaking climax yet again. Her walls clenched around him every bit as tightly as she held onto his shoulders, and her pulsing convulsions pulled him along with her. With one last grunt and a few more short thrusts, he finished, and collapsed on the bed next to her.

Deeks quickly pulled the condom off and dropped it into the nearby trash can. Wiping his hand on his thigh, he was too lazy and too spent to get up and clean off properly. Kensi certainly didn't care, and welcomed the warmth of his body as they wrapped themselves in their sheets.

It was still fairly early, before dinner even. So Kensi didn't let herself drift into sleep. Instead, she forced herself to rise from the bed after a few minutes, and washed up a bit before getting dressed. Soon after, Deeks followed suit.

"So, are we like, an item now?" he asked her as he stepped out of the bathroom.

"What is it with men and always wanting to talk about the relationship?" she teased.

Walking over to where she was redoing her hair, he brushed a strand from her face tenderly. He countered, "Maybe I just want to know where we stand."

"Maybe I want to talk about it later," she said with finality, mimicking his tone.

"So for now…?" he asked with concern as she walked towards the door to peer out the aperture.

Turning back to him she answered, "For now, what happens on this ship, stays on this ship."

"Okay."

Before leaving, she smiled at him and suggested, "Meet me back here at twenty two hundred?"

Deeks finished pulling on his shirt and gave her a mock salute, "Yes, ma'am!"

* * *

 **A/N: I'm thinking I could maybe stretch this one out for another chapter or two. There's something fun about the idea of sneaking around on a ship.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I love how you're all like "we missed you!" when I post literally every two weeks like clockwork. It's sweet, but I'm predictable.**

 **This story is still rated M, and will continue to be.**

* * *

Kensi strode with purpose down the corridor towards the visitor's berth she had been retreating to with her partner on this ship. She was anxious and a little giddy to be back in there with him. About five paces from the door, just as she was about to reach up for the handle, a small figure rounded the corner at the other end of the hall.

"Ms. Blye! Where are you off to up here?" Hetty asked her through her characteristically calm demeanor.

"Oh! Hetty," Kensi answered, quickly recalling the alibi she had prepared for just such a scenario. "I was just heading to the… Officer's lounge. I made a friend who helped with the case and I just wanted to see if he was there."

"And who would that be?" Hetty asked, politely curious.

' _Don't say um, don't say um!_ ' she thought to herself as she tried to calmly answer her boss's question, "Lieutenant Abernathy."

Hetty was ready with another question, "The one you mentioned in your preliminary case report?"

Smiling and nodding, Kensi confirmed, "That's the one."

"I didn't see him there," Hetty responded plainly.

"You know what he looks like?" Kensi asked, a little confused. Remembering that it was Hetty she was talking to, she brushed it off. "Of course you do. Never mind. I'm sure I'll catch him sometime before we leave tomorrow."

Hetty nodded in apparent understanding, and proceeded to give out further information. "Good luck with that. Oh, and in light of recent events, I've decided to extend your holiday vacation for a few days when we return to shore."

"Really?" Kensi exclaimed, genuinely excited about this news. "That's great! Thanks, Hetty."

"You're quite welcome. Though, truth be told, it gives me the chance to head to Macow like I had intended," the older woman confessed.

"That sounds like fun. Well then, I'll just head back to my berth now. Good night, Hetty," Kensi called out to the operations manager before turning to walk back down the corridor she had come from.

"Good night, Ms. Blye," Hetty called back to her, not moving from where she stood, arms tucked behind her back.

Kensi hurried back in the direction of the block of officer's berths she was assigned to. Her mind raced and she wondered what would have happened if Deeks had appeared while Hetty was there. Or if he was now cornered in their hide out. She decided it would be best to call it a night and not risk getting caught, though she took a rather meandering route in order to collect her frantic thoughts. Being cooped up on this ship was starting to get to her.

"Ahhhhahh! Geez!" she called out when she rounded a corner and walked straight into the body of a shaggy blonde man in civilian clothing.

"Calm down, it's just me!" her partner told her, putting his hands on her shoulders to steady her.

"I can see that!" she spat back, still a little on edge from her encounter with Hetty. Having collected her wits and her nerves, she asked him, "Were you in the room when Hetty was there?"

"Yup," he confirmed.

"How long did you have to wait for her to clear out?"

"A couple minutes. Then a few more to be sure," he answered. Deeks leaned in to whisper, despite being alone, "I think she's on to us."

"You might be right," she agreed. "Maybe we should head back to our berths and pick this up later? We're clear to take a few days off when we get back."

"I heard. I was behind the door when Hetty found you," he informed her. Sighing, he lamented, "Tahoe would still be awesome. But I don't know that I can wait that long."

Kensi laughed and returned his cocky smile as she teased him, "Wow. It's been like, two days. We haven't actually decided what exactly it is that we're doing here. And already you're so whipped you can't go another day without me?"

"I was joking and trying to pay you a compliment. It's called being theatrical," he drawled. "Besides, try and tell me you're not currently undressing me with your eyes? Don't deny it! Which, by the way, you wouldn't have to do if you could actually undress me with your hands right now."

"Psssh. Whatever," she brushed him off. Shrugging, she asked, "But where are we going to go? We can't go back to the visitor's berth."

"No, we can't," he agreed. "You're an officer. Don't you have a private room?"

"Ha! More like I only have to share it with three other women instead of dozens," she retorted.

"Hmmm," Deeks thought to himself. With a hand scratching his hair, he suggested, "Well, you know… I may have found a place when I was searching for the origin of my crime-scene spinach."

* * *

"No, Deeks," Kensi said firmly when she saw the room he had led them to a few minutes later.

"What?" he asked incredulously.

"Absolutely not!" she said with finality.

"Why not?"

"This is the laundry room!" she exclaimed in exasperation.

"So?"

"It's noisy. And not private," she reasoned. "And we are _guaranteed_ to get caught."

"Fine. Well rain on my parade, then," he whined in a defeated tone.

Kensi sighed and looked around the room, thinking. When an idea occurred to her she offered, "Maybe not."

"Oh?" he asked hopefully.

"Maybe I have a better idea," she informed him. Grabbing a clean towel from a shelf, she led him from the room and back into the corridor.

* * *

"Now _this_ is more like it!" she told him once she had keyed her way into a more private area deep in the ship. It was a vast, dimly lit room, made cramped by the presence of dozens of large metal supply crates with rounded corners, stacked neatly on top of each other.

"It's… a storage room," Deeks pointed out blankly, and without enthusiasm.

"This is a _locked_ storage hold, which I still have the keys for," she reminded him, latching the bulk head behind them.

"It's dirty," he groaned.

"That's why I brought the towel," she countered, spreading it out on one of the stacks that only came about waist high on her.

"And cold," he whined.

"We won't be cold for long," she said, turning back to him and doing her best to shoot him a seductive grin.

Returning her smile, he stepped closer to her and brought his hands up to her hips. In a low voice he responded, "What can I say? When you're right, you're right."

Kensi's soft, triumphant laugh was muffled when his lips crashed into hers. She kissed him languidly for a few minutes; running her fingers through his hair, enjoying the way his scruff tickled her cheeks, and savoring the taste of him. His body pressed against hers and radiated heat. But it was colder in this part of the ship than anywhere else, and she was impatient to get on with it.

She unfastened her belt and pants, and pulled them down with her underwear past her knees. Deeks helped her lift herself back onto the towel covered crate behind her, and his hands immediately came to rest on her bare thighs and ass.

Then he dropped to his knees in front of her and pulled her pants down further. She made to kick off her boots but he stopped her.

"No need! Just stay right where you are," he directed her.

With her pants down around her ankles, he snaked his head up between her bent knees until her legs came to rest on his shoulders. He kissed his way up her inner thighs, causing her to shiver in excitement. Thinking she was cold, he wrapped his hands around her hips and rubbed them back and forth.

His lips inched closer and closer to her center, and just as she was starting to get impatient, his mouth was on her. Enthusiastically, his tongue started to caress her clit and inner folds. She had forgotten in the hunt for privacy just how worked up she was, but one touch from him caused all that excitement to come rushing back to her.

"I could get used to this!" she said absentmindedly, carding her hands through his unruly mop of hair.

"Say the word, and I'm yours," he told her, pausing from his ministrations to look up at her.

Kensi didn't reply immediately. She could almost feel Deeks' expectant gaze from below her, but she refused to look down and meet it. Instead she threw her head back and cried, "Don't stop!"

Deeks heeded her directions and returned to his attentions. He was so good at this. He seemed to know exactly where to touch her to make her squirm, and he had to actually hold her legs down to keep her from writhing too much.

But there was nothing he could do to stop her from panting and calling out his name when the pleasure came to be too much for her. Her loud cry echoed in the cold, harsh room as the paralyzingly good sensation radiated out from her center and made her legs tremble on either side of his head.

Kensi lay back on the towel contentedly, barely noticing that Deeks had wriggled his whole body between her legs as he stood up between them. Her pants were still around her ankles, and kept him trapped there. But he had just enough space to unbuckle his belt and pull his pants and underwear down a few inches.

She sat up again and reached between them to pull his dick free from his boxers. She tugged on him a few times, feeling his soft skin stretch back and forth. He stiffened even more in her hand while he fished in his pockets for another of the pilfered condoms.

With her other hand, she pulled him by the collar of his shirt until he dropped his head to hers. Their heated kiss made it hard for him to concentrate on what he was doing, and she reluctantly let him break free so he could finish rolling the rubber on his thick cock.

Placing his free hand on the towel beside her, he bent back down to kiss her softly as he guided his stiff erection to the entrance of her still pulsating pussy. In the short time since they'd started doing this, it was amazing how much she had come to need his touch; to ache for him. When he pushed into her, she moaned into his mouth and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, lamenting that it was too cold for either of them to take off the rest of their clothes.

It had only been a few hours since they had last fucked, and she could feel his slick cock moving easily within her. His goal seemed to be speed this time, and the heavenly friction that built up each time he hurriedly hit the right spots inside of her was made more intense by the drama of their daring location. Kensi didn't actually fear getting caught where they were, but she had to admit that it was the most unusual place she'd ever done it.

Deeks hummed in satisfaction against her lips as he continued to pump in and out. He broke free to exclaim, "Oh my god, Kens!"

She wanted to respond with whatever dumb idea popped into her head; something that only sounds sexy when you say it during sex. But his mouth was on her's again, and her tongue was kept occupied by his.

As their kiss deepened, his pace slowed. The caresses of his lips became softer, more languid. And the motion of his hips grew more deliberate; more about the length of each stroke and not the speed.

Kensi let her hands drift down so she could sneak them beneath his shirt. His hard muscles were tense, and he hissed when her thumbs reached down to press against the hot flesh where the base of his shaft met his balls.

His eyes met hers intensely as she let her fingers feel the length of his cock each time he pulled out almost all the way. The edge of the condom got in the way, and she found herself wishing she could really feel him.

"You close?" she asked in a husky whisper.

"Uh-huh," he nodded, his forehead pressed to hers and his hot breath on her face.

"Come on, Deeks!" she encouraged him.

His pace picked up, and Kensi pressed the fingers of the hand she had between them against her clit. She let the rocking motion of his thrusts determine the rhythm of how hard she rubbed herself. But soon, she was so close to reaching that peak that her hand practically spasmed in an effort to bring her there.

With one last cry, her muscles went slack and she let her arm fall uselessly to her side as the pent up pleasure finally burst free. Her inner muscles clenched tightly around him to a beat that matched her racing heart.

Deeks found his own release moments after, and his arms nearly buckled from the intensity of it all. Their chests pressed together as Kensi held herself against his heaving body with propped arms.

After a moment of calm, he took a step back and she was forced to slide forward to move with him. Balanced awkwardly on the crates with her ankles around his calves, they were still joined in the middle. Deeks stepped out from between her legs, and gave her a hand to regain her feet. They both giggled at the silliness of it all as they each pulled up their pants and straightened their outfits.

Kensi had gathered up the towel and had started to walk to the bulkhead when Deeks stopped her. He cupped her cheek with a hand and pulled her in for another long, slow kiss.

When she pulled away from him, she smiled at him warmly. Her voice low and sated, she told him, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"And I guess I'll find a place to get rid of this," he said, holding up the used condom he had tried to stuff back into its wrapper.

Laughing, she teased, "Well, good thing you're familiar with the ship's trash cans."

* * *

 **A/N: Well this story certainly grew. Okay… Two more chapters. Then I have to move on.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Last day on the ship. Where will they end up?**

* * *

"Last day on this ship!" Deeks announced triumphantly to Kensi as he joined her in line for breakfast at the officer's mess.

"Hey! Enlisted mess is that way and down two decks, civie," a grumpy looking young man in blue camo naval fatigues barked at him.

"He's with me, Ensign," Kensi told him curtly, her back straight as she flawlessly resumed her role as a Marine Major.

"And me," a deep voice rang out from behind them.

Kensi felt a hulking presence behind her and turned to see a six and a half foot tall, clean cut Marine officer standing there.

"Lieutenant Abernathy!" she exclaimed happily. "Good to see you!"

"And you too, Major Barret. And Mr…? I'm sorry, I've forgotten your name," he asked Deeks.

"Uh, Coulter. But just call me Marty," Deeks answered, warily eying the behemoth of a man.

"Right. How do you two know each other?" he asked the pair.

"We don't," Kensi answered. "Met before flying out from the base."

"Barret is one of the only people I know on this ship," Deeks added.

"So, you're back to shore again so soon, Ma'am?" Abernathy asked, directing his question entirely to Kensi.

"Yeah. I came to help NCIS find the source of the drugs, now it's back to the MP platoon at Pendleton with the evidence," she explained.

"And my contract is all done," Deeks interjected, clearly trying to draw some of the young Marine's attention away from his partner.

"That's a shame," he replied, again directing his words to Kensi. She thought it was a little rude of him, but smiled none the less. Abernathy went on, "Good luck with that, Ma'am. And it was good working with you."

"Likewise," Kensi answered. "And thanks for your help."

They had filled their trays with food that was only slightly less depressing than what was available at the enlisted mess, and headed for a table tucked against the wall.

"I'm surprised he didn't try to sit with us," Deeks observed once they were mostly alone at their table.

"Jealous?" Kensi chided, smiling triumphantly.

"Of him? Why would I be?" Deeks asked in a quiet voice. "Given what we've been up to since we wrapped the case."

"Speaking of which, I'm running out of ideas on where we can go," she informed him in a low tone. "Unless we wanna risk going back to the visitor's berth, I think we may have to call it quits."

Deeks waited for her to go on before clarifying, "At least until we get back home… right?"

Kensi didn't answer immediately, and Deeks waited anxiously. Finally, she conceded, "We'll see. We'll go to Tahoe as planned, then… I don't know. Talk about it then?"

"Sure," he answered, failing to hide his disappointment.

Silence hung heavily in the air between them as they ate, while Kensi considered her options. She knew— had known for a while now— that she was undeniably, head-over-heels crazy for her partner. She had no hopes of it ever being a normal relationship though. And she was terrified of ruining their partnership now that it had finally grown into the best one she had ever had.

"In the mean time, I have an idea: Callen," Deeks declared.

Kensi just stared at him incredulously. "You're going to have to elaborate."

"Callen has a single room—berth—whatever. I heard him say so. Something about staying separate from everyone else on board," Deeks explained.

"If you'd call it that," Kensi replied. "I've seen these singles. They're more like closets. A coffin-sized bunk above a desk and a locker. Maybe 6 square feet of floorspace, if we're rounding up."

"We could make it work," Deeks insisted. "You've said it yourself: Callen never sleeps. He spends all his time in the lounge playing 3D scrabble in like five different languages with Hetty."

"That's not a thing," Kensi stated. "And what are you going to do? Ask him if you can have his rack?"

"No… but you could. He'd suspect you less," Deeks countered.

"Deeks. What would _you_ think if I started asking you about your sleeping habits and whether or not you'll use your bed tonight?" Kensi asked plainly.

His eyes drifted upwards as his mind immediately went to inappropriate and tantalizing places, and he smiled widely at whatever he was thinking.. Still grinning like a child, he responded, "It was just an idea."

"Those are always dangerous," Callen himself informed him as he approached their table, tray in hand. "What's this idea of yours?"

"Oh, hey, Callen! Uh… ways to make our flight home suck less tomorrow," Deeks said, speaking quickly.

"Suck it up and just be glad we're going. Some of these sailors have been on this ship for months and haven't seen the sun in weeks," he went on, humorlessly.

"Geez," Deeks answered. His face remained serious for a moment before it lit up, and he asked, "Hey Callen, you still have access to the NCIS office on board?"

"Of course," he affirmed. Quietly, he added, "I'm not undercover, remember? I'm currently the _actual_ Agent Afloat on this ship."

"Right. Well, I haven't finished my case report yet," Deeks explained.

"What? I've had mine done for two days. What have you been doing all this time?" Callen asked incredulously while Kensi snickered discreetly.

"Wandering around lost, mostly," Deeks admitted.

"Here," Callen said, pulling a key from its chain and handing it to him. "Go finish up your report, and give this back when you're done."

"Thanks, man," Deeks said before rising from the table to bus his tray.

Kensi watched her partner walk away and tried to keep a smile to herself. She knew it had to have been an impromptu plan of his, and was rather proud of him for securing a place for them to be alone. Not wanting to be obvious, she decided to wait with Callen for a while before catching up with him in the private, lockable NCIS office.

* * *

Kensi entered the office about an hour later to find Deeks sitting at the small desk in the tiny room. It was about the size of the bathroom in her apartment back home, and was cramped by a small desk with a computer, some file cabinets, and a few evidence and supply lockers, all bolted to the floor.

"That was brilliant," she told him happily after she'd bolted the door behind her.

"What was?" Deeks asked, confused.

"Pretending to need more time with the computer so…" Kensi trailed off when she looked at the desk and saw that Deeks had in fact been hard at work on his report. Laughing, she asked, "Oh! You seriously aren't done yet?"

"I am now," Deeks assured her. "Just about to send it in."

Reaching round the computer to unplug the webcam and microphone mounted on the monitor, she told him, "Or you could hold off for a little while."

Deeks smiled as it finally dawned on him. Pretending that this was actually his idea all along, he answered, "That's the plan."

Kensi shook her head as she straddled his waist and sat on his lap facing him, her legs taking the space where the simple office chair's armrests would be if it had any. Deeks hummed in contentment and leaned against the backrest as she pressed her weight against him.

They started to kiss languidly, their lips passing slowly over one another's. Then abruptly, Deeks broke away.

Reaching around her torso, he pulled the mouse and keyboard to him and muttered, "Let me just save this… and, there! Where were we?"

Kensi reminded him by cupping his face and keeping his attention fixed entirely on her as she attacked his lips again. He hadn't trimmed his beard in days and it was starting to get long, but remained soft. She dragged her fingers through the short hairs and relished in the way it tickled her cheeks and chin.

Deeks had started to work on the buttons of her shirt, and when he finally had it open, he reluctantly left her lips to start trailing his kisses down her long neck and chest. He buried his face between her covered breasts, and she encouraged him by running her fingers through his wild hair.

Though several layers of clothing still separated them, he was already getting hard and straining against his pants as she ground her hips down on his. He bucked up against her impatiently, and she responded by tugging at the button and zipper on his jeans. He did the same for her, and sent his probing fingers between her legs and beneath her underwear.

Kensi squirmed and nearly slid off of his lap when his fingers made contact with her bundle of nerves. Deeks smirked and focused on keeping her balanced over him as he held his arm in an awkward position between them. Her hand joined his between them and she grasped the tip of his cock, rubbing her thumb over the sensitive head. Her arm quickly got cramped from the odd position. She wouldn't dream of moving it though, because the noises he made and the looks he gave her as she made him harder and harder were enough to make her forget any discomfort of her own.

Flushed and already out of breath, Kensi stood up and pulled on his wrists until he stood with her. She pulled him into another demanding kiss and let him know just how impatient she was as her hand snaked beneath his boxers to grasp his stiff cock.

Even if he hadn't picked up on the signals, Deeks would have been able to tell exactly what she wanted when she pulled her pants and panties down to her knees, turned around, and bent over on the desk in front of her. She turned her head around and looked back at him expectantly, but he was already taking his place behind her, and fully pulling his dick out from beneath his underwear. Impatiently, Kensi swayed her ass back and forth against him as he rolled on one of the last condoms he had pilfered.

Finally, he put one hand on her hips to steady her, and used the other hand to guide his cock between her butt cheeks, between the lips of her pussy, and into the tight entrance of her heat. They both groaned as he slid into her. And with each slow thrust he inched deeper and deeper, until he had pushed all the way in, and his hips pressed up against her firm, round ass. The feeling of being filled by him was heaven, and she could not fathom how they had waited so long to finally do this.

Kensi was letting gravity do the work for her, rocking back against him after being propelled forward with each of his thrusts. He alternated between streaks of quick, speedy bursts that made a clap each time his skin met hers, and longer, slower motions that made her moan and grind back into him.

Her breathing was growing quicker and louder, and Kensi had let herself bend over completely, resting her weight on her elbows and arching her back so he would hit her in just the right spot each time. Then, quite suddenly, he stopped.

They both froze as they heard voices and several footsteps on the other side of the door.

With racing hearts and panting breaths, they listened.

Kensi glanced at the lock to make sure it was bolted shut, and considered making a mad dash to fasten her clothes. _God, this had been a dumb idea!_

But the voices passed and kept heading down the corridor.

"Fuck!" she hissed in a sigh of relief.

She stood up straight and leaned back against Deeks as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You wanna keep going?" he whispered in her ear, grinding his hips against her ass. Still impaled on his length, she clenched around his cock as he moved.

"You seriously think I'd want to stop?" she asked, turning her head to face him. "The danger of being caught makes it so much hotter!"

"Kens! You have more of a wild side than I would have guessed!" he told her, smiling.

"You're surprised?" she replied.

She stepped away from him, and he groaned at the loss of her touch. Pushing his pants further down his legs, she left his boxers in place before directing him back onto the chair. She kicked off her boots and stepped out of her olive drab pants entirely, tossing them on the desk.

Facing him, she spread a leg on either side of his. With one hand, Deeks positioned his cock so that as she lowered herself onto his lap, he slid home again.

Deeks laughed and Kensi yelped in surprise when he reached below him to pull on the lever beneath the chair. Their combined weight dropped them a few inches closer to the ground with speed, and the bounce was just enough to get them started again, their laughter turning into gasps as they went.

With their feet firmly on the floor, they both had the leverage needed to fall into an invigorating rhythm; with Deeks rocking his hips to meet hers as she rode him. His hands cupped her ass, and his face was smothered between her covered breasts as she leaned into him. He kissed the skin between them, and with his chin was able to nuzzle one of them free enough for his tongue and lips to mouth at the pink bud.

Kensi was quickly losing her composure. She was no longer rising up and down so much as she was grinding against him in an effort to find the friction she sought. Deeks kept his arms around her waist as she clung to him, and moaned along with her.

Her movements grew even more erratic, and she could feel herself start to spasm. Deeks dropped a hand between them and as soon as he rubbed his thumb on the engorged bundle of nerves, she cried out for half a second before catching herself and switching to a burst of sharp, ragged breaths. It wasn't a particularly powerful climax, but it still felt so good. And it left her in enough control of her senses that she could maintain her rhythm on top of him, and keep the sweet burn alive.

He sank into the desperate kisses she planted on his lips as her inner muscles contracted around him. She could tell that Deeks was so close himself, that another few gyrations from her hips might do it. But she wanted— needed him to actually move inside of her.

And he gave her exactly what she desired. Holding onto her by her waist, he stood up and set her down on the floor, on top of his flannel shirt that had since slipped off the back of the chair he had left it on. There was just barely enough room on the floor for them to lay there, and if the door could open, it would have hit them both in their heads.

Kensi didn't particularly like being on this floor, but neither of them could muster the effort to care once he started to roll his whole body into hard, long strokes. Without the give a mattress would have provided, he had to work much harder to keep it going. But he only needed a minute. Kensi's inner flutterings hadn't subsided, and the way her body tugged on his cock each time he pushed in made it so he lasted only a couple dozen thrusts before he was pulled over the edge.

She was out of control, practically writhing on the hard floor as the pleasure of another orgasm crashed over her and left her panting, and grasping at any part of Deeks she could hold onto. He fared no better. He labored to push as deep inside of her as he could one last time. All of his muscles clenched, and he shook as he found his release.

Exhausted and out of breath, she would have loved to lay there with him for much longer. But it was chilly, and their position on the floor wasn't even remotely comfortable.

Deeks helped Kensi up, and they took a minute to collect and reaffix their clothing. He was again forced to find a way to creatively conceal the evidence of their rendezvous, as the NCIS office on the ship was the last place they'd want to leave their used rubber. This time, he folded it in a piece of printer paper so he could toss it out somewhere else. Tucking it in his back pocket, he pulled out the last condom he'd lifted from the discreet free stash.

Kensi smiled at him when he held it up triumphantly, shooting her a suggestive grin. Though, she wasn't sure when they'd use it, as they were finally leaving this ship the next day and it was getting harder and harder to scout out places to go. She had hopes for its use during their planned trip to Tahoe. But, if things went well they'd need way more than just the one.

Now that she was put together again, Kensi unlocked the door, but left it closed, and sat on the desk beside the computer that Deeks' case report was still up on.

"I suppose you should send that in," she reminded him, motioning to the screen.

Deeks pulled the cords up to reattach the hardware they'd unplugged earlier, and nodded in agreement. After he'd dramatically hit enter to send it in, he turned to Kensi and asked, "So what are you going to do the rest of the day? Still keeping to your Marine duties?"

"I don't have to. My fake assignment is over. But I do like hanging with the drug dogs," she answered with a shrug. "You?"

"I don't know," he answered thinking about it. He answered, "Whenever I sit around the mess long enough, there's always a sailor or two who comes to talk. Probably just to interact with someone new for a change."

"Ah yes. I've seen you with little packs of _female_ enlisted gushing over your hair," Kensi teased him, brushing some golden strands from his face as she spoke.

"Why, Kensi Blye, that sounded a bit like jealousy," he chided in return, smirking.

"What do I care?" she reasoned. "They're stuck onboard for another few months, at least. I get to leave this ship, with you."

When she added those last two words to her sentence, Deeks' smile softened a little bit. She wasn't sure what exactly she meant by that, but she knew how it sounded. She'd have to be careful, or she might end up saying something she couldn't take back, regardless of how true it might be. She saw his soft smile and the warmth in his eyes, so she rose and beckoned to him before he could say anything in reply that might get them even deeper into trouble.

"Come on, Deeks," she told him with a grin. "We've still got half a day on this ship."

"Yup," he agreed. "There's mischief to get up to."

And oh man, did she love the sound of that.

* * *

 **A/N: One more chapter, I think… to satisfy those of you who like neat, wrapped up endings.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Ok, I lied. Two more chapters. But I don't hear any of you complaining.**

* * *

' _This has to stop! Now!_ ' Kensi thought to herself in futility.

In reality, she was doing very little to stop her hands from roaming up and down her partner's back, or to stop her lips from sliding over his as they devoured each other in a messy kiss. His body was pressed flush to hers, and he had her pinned to a steel wall somewhere deep in the ship.

It had only been a few hours since their midday encounter in the ship's NCIS office. But her plan to play it cool and keep her hands to herself for the last several hours aboard the aircraft carrier had gone awry. Sure enough, as the day came to a close, she found herself wandering the darkest corridors of the ship with Deeks, yet again looking for a little privacy.

"We really shouldn't be making out in the open like this," she hissed at him between demanding kisses.

"I thought you said the danger of being caught made it hotter?" he teased, smiling from behind his disheveled hair.

"Yeah, but if we're actually caught, that's where it ends," she reminded him.

"Fair point," he conceded.

Then, both of them froze as they heard boots on the sheer steel stairs down the hall and around a corner.

"Someone's coming!" Kensi whispered, before bolting out from his arm's embrace and dashing down the hall to hide on the other side of a bulkhead.

She left Deeks standing there, a bit dumbfounded. And he didn't have time to flee with her.

"Mr. Coulter! There you are," a woman's voice called out.

Kensi couldn't see her, but she recognized her voice as belonging to the civilian liaison of the ship, Petty Officer Smalls.

"You're looking for me?" Deeks asked her in surprise.

"Yes. What are you doing down here? Haven't you gotten in enough trouble already?" she asked him sternly.

"Uh… I got lost," Deeks admitted, though he lacked conviction.

"Right," Smalls answered skeptically. "And why do you have a towel?"

"It's from the bathro— from the head… in my berth," he stuttered. "I was going… to… to go up on the deck. I heard it was raining… I love… rain."

Kensi stifled a laugh from her hiding spot. It was comical to listen to him weave his way through his increasingly convoluted alibi. But she wished he'd get on with it and get away, so they could pick up where they left off.

"Uh-huh," Smalls responded. "Well, you don't have clearance to be up on the flight deck. So you'll have to wait until tomorrow when you leave to get some fresh air. Which is actually why I'm here. Follow me."

"Where are we going?" Deeks asked, reluctantly walking after the tenacious sailor.

"I need to brief you on the procedures for preparing to leave the ship," Smalls answered, her voice growing quieter as she and Deeks walked further from where Kensi was hiding.

A few seconds later, she heard the sounds of them climbing the stairs to a higher deck, and then Kensi could hardly hear their voices at all. She sighed to herself, both at the relief from not being caught, and at the frustration of having her partner dragged away.

Guessing at where she thought Smalls would lead him, she took off in the opposite direction, winding her way up the labyrinth of corridors until she ended up near the squadron ready room, only a deck below the flight deck. Close by, there was a staging area for cargo and luggage that would leave the ship with them in the early hours of the next day.

Sure enough, several minutes later she spotted a very confused looking Deeks looking back and forth at the junction of four different hallways. Somewhere along the lines, he had lost his towel.

Kensi strode up behind him, and without breaking her pace she brushed past him and told him in a low voice, "Well, that was close."

Deeks fell in step behind her, following her unquestioningly down the corridor.

When they were more alone, he asked, "Where are we going?"

"You still have the key to the visitor's berth?" Kensi asked him without slowing.

"Yeah, but I thought we agreed it was too risky to go back there with you-know-who sniffing around," he argued.

"Well, I'm out of alternative ideas," she admitted, leaving unsaid that she refused to consider calling it quits until they were back home in around twenty-four hours. Finally, she turned back to smile at him and said, "Besides, we were supposed to turn out the sheets before you give the key back."

"Fair point," he conceded, grinning and adding a spring to his step.

When they reached the intersection before the hallway their hideout was in, they paused. Kensi peered around the corner and hesitated. Deeks seemed to share her trepidation and glanced nervously back the way they'd came.

"This is ridiculous," he whispered. "We can break into banks and prisons, but we can't sneak down an empty hallway without fear of being spotted?"

She happened to agree with him. She took a quick deep breath before saying, "Come on!"

They started walking quickly, but trying hard not to look too much like they were up to any mischief. They reached the door and Deeks swore under his breath as he fumbled with the key. After seconds that seemed like minutes (Kensi had been on the verge of shoving him away impatiently and picking it herself), the lock clicked and the door swung open. The pair scrambled though the frame much quicker than was necessary, and sealed it behind them.

They looked at each other, bursting into laughter at their own foolishness. Deeks' arms came to rest around Kensi's waist as her arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"I half expected to find her in here, waiting for us," he confessed, still chuckling to himself.

"Stop it!" Kensi said as she playfully smacked him on his chest with her open palm. This turned into a gentle caress, and she went on, "Don't even joke about that!"

"Doesn't matter," he insisted, dotting kisses along the corner of her jaw. "It's not like that would stop me!"

Kensi shook her head and told him, "You're so weird—"

His lips had reached hers, and silenced any further conversation for the time being. He kissed her soundly, and passionately, and she melted into his arm's embrace while they moved as one towards the tiny bed.

Kensi tossed aside her cap and pulled her hair free from its restrictive bun, and Deeks quickly unbuttoned her shirt and pushed it from her shoulders. Their hands moved over each other's bodies with the certainty of lovers who had been together for years, not days as they worked to remove their clothes.

In quick order, they were both stripped bare and reclined on the mattress. Deeks had settled over Kensi's body, sharing his warmth as they continued to focus their attention on what they did with their lips and hands.

Deeks made a quick exit from the bed to go back to his discarded pants. After rummaging around, he returned having successfully found the little package stowed in his back pocket.

"This is the last one," he informed her, holding it up.

Kensi felt a shiver at the loss of his body heat, and held herself up on her elbows to tell him suggestively, "Better make good use of it."

"Oh, I plan to," he assured her.

From the foot of the bed, he crawled his way back up her long, bare legs, kissing the goosebumps away as he went. Once she could reach his unruly hair, she ran her fingers through the golden locks to direct his meandering tongue and lips. At her silent urging, he mouthed his way to the soft skin of one of her breasts. His tongue flicked out and tickled the pink bud until it was perked up and Kensi had arched into his touch. He repeated his actions with her other breast, then returned to her lips to calm her impatient sighs.

"You like that?" he asked confidently when she moaned into his mouth.

"I just like that we're finally back in a bed again. Somewhere we can be comfortable," she told him, stretching out beneath his weight to prove her point.

"Yeah," he agreed. "And somewhere we can be naked."

"You like it when I'm naked, do you?" she whispered seductively as she arched her back to push her breasts against his chest.

"What makes you think this is about you? I mean, yeah. You're smoking hot, Kens. But this is about me showing off what I have to work with," he insisted, sitting up on his knees and running his hands over his own broad chest and tight abs.

"I can't even take you seriously right now," she confessed, chasing his hands with her own and following the contour of his muscles.

"Take me in jest, if you'd like. So long as you know I'm yours to take," he said in ernest, settling back down over her.

Kensi met his intense gaze unwaveringly. She couldn't believe he'd just said that. And was even more surprised at how his words made her heart soar.

He saved her from having to answer him by busying her lips with his instead, and she tried to pour what she couldn't say out loud into that kiss.

After several moments more, he kissed his way down her neck and across her breasts, retracing his path from earlier until his face was level with her hips. She squirmed a little in anticipation, and opened her legs for him when he nudged them gently apart with his hands.

Kensi writhed at his touch as he teased her with the tip of his tongue, just as he had done to her nipples. He licked and lapped at her softly, building up the tension within her with his barely there caresses. She wanted so much more, and rolled her hips in frustration as she groaned out loud. Unable to deny her anything, Deeks dove in with more intensity, sucking on the bundle of nerves that was starting to throb.

"Yes, Deeks!" she called out to him, willing herself to hold out for a few more seconds of bliss before surrendering to the pleasure.

He pressed the flat of his tongue directly on her clit and dragged it back and forth rapidly. Kensi held on tightly to her own breasts, and there was nothing more she could do except try not to cry out too loud as she crested the peak of this unexpectedly powerful orgasm.

Deeks kissed the lips of her pussy for a few seconds while she was lost to the sensations. Then he replaced his mouth with his hand, gently cupping her vulva as he crawled back up to her level.

Kensi welcomed him, literally with open arms. As she clung to his torso, she could feel his cock pressed against her; hot and hard. She reached down and grasped his length, tugging on the soft skin and feeling the solid flesh beneath. It was Deeks' turn to moan at her touch, especially once she had started to caress the sensitive head of his dick between her palm and thumb.

"Where'd that condom go?" she asked, though, frankly she was tempted to go without.

"Uhh… It's uh…" Deeks stuttered, sucking in a sharp breath each time she touched him in a certain way. "I left it… here!"

Triumphantly, he fished it out from a wrinkle in the bedsheets and wasted no time in affixing it to himself. Kensi would have loved to take control, but she had already learned to trust him. So she laid back, impatiently waiting for Deeks to settle into position above her.

He lowered himself until he lay flat against her, kissing her soundly as he shifted his hips, blindly trying to navigate into the right spot. The tip of his cock slipped between her folds and rubbed against her clit. Still sensitive from her recent climax, Kensi squirmed at the contact. Her movements were enough to help him slip home, and push deep into her heat.

Kensi hadn't had sex this often in quite some time, and had forgotten how repeated fucking made her inner muscles ache so sweetly. Quicker than she had anticipated, she was already feeling the shockwaves coursing through her that usually came just before she did. Deeks wasn't even moving that fast yet. But his moves were exaggerated, and she could feel the flesh inside herself give way each time he pushed through.

"Oh! My God! I will never get tired of feeling that!" Deeks exclaimed as her inner flutterings gained strength and she bucked up against him involuntarily at the feeling.

Kensi processed what he said in slow motion, her mind distracted by the rush of pure bliss. Without really realizing what she was even saying, she agreed, "Me neither."

Her body may have been temporarily spent, but Deeks was still going strong. He had slowed to let her come back down from her high. But even though Kensi wasn't moving with him so much, she encouraged him to continue doing so by wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders.

She was content to let him continue dictating the pace. He seemed to be in no hurry. She loved the overwhelming sensations of him moving steadily within her, and the way his lips stayed connected with hers in a continuous string of sweet kisses. Everything about this was more passionate than any time before, and Kensi wanted nothing more than to stay forever like this, with him.

Deeks had nearly stopped moving entirely, and taking advantage of a burst of energy, Kensi pushed on his shoulders until he rolled them both over. Their positions had reversed, but they remained attached at their hips and their lips.

Kensi focused all of her effort into getting them moving again. She moaned each time she let her ass come crashing down on his thighs, and she didn't have to try hard to raise her hips again, as Deeks met each stroke with a hard upward thrust of his own. Soon, he was doing most of the work again, as she tried to simply hold herself at the perfect angle to let him hit that sweet spot over and over again.

She had shifted up his body some, and could no longer reach his lips with hers, instead having to settle for nuzzling her cheek against the tousled hair on the top of his head. Deeks though, was now free to kiss and suck at the flushed skin of her neck and chest, sending shivers across her skin as the building pressure mounted within her core.

After a few more minutes, Deeks' steady rhythm was starting to unravel. His strokes became choppy, and he grunted with the effort of each one. The change in pace triggered another release of pleasure throughout her body. And as her inner walls took off in a burst of flutters, she felt him twitch wildly as he buried himself within her one last time and called out her name.

They were both spent, breathing heavily, and completely collapsed in each other's arms. Kensi felt content again, and had totally forgotten about all the frustration she had been feeling barely a half an hour ago about being cooped up on this ship. Deeks rolled them again, pulling the sheets around their rapidly cooling bodies as he did so.

She would really have loved to stay there all night with him like they had on Christmas Eve a few nights prior, but she knew they couldn't— or at least shouldn't— stay.

"We can't stay like this," she told him regretfully, her face still buried against his neck.

"Why not?" he asked, holding her tighter in his arms.

"Because Callen's going to want to check in on us in the morning, maybe even tonight, to make sure we're all set to go," she reasoned.

Deeks groaned in defeat, but once Kensi started to drag herself from the bed, he followed suit. They spent a few minutes collecting their clothes, pulling off the bedsheets as Deeks had been instructed, and neatening up the room a bit.

"Well. I'm going to go slip this key back to the supply clerk," he told her, admiring the little piece of metal in his hand somewhat wistfully.

"Then go get some sleep," she instructed him. "We fly home around o-eight hundred hours."

"And when does that get us back to LA?" he asked, squinting at an arbitrary point on the wall as he thought.

"With the time difference," Kensi started, calculating in her head. "That'll be eight hours after six hours ago tomorrow—"

Very confused, Deeks interjected, "What?"

"—So… in Pacific time, four in the morning? I think," she finished with minimal certainty.

"I'm confused," he told her, stating the obvious.

"Don't be. Just get some sleep," she again instructed.

He nodded in agreement and stepped over to her now that she was fully dressed too. Cupping her cheek, he quickly stole a kiss. Though, she willingly gave it.

"Catch you in the morning," she told him, pulling away. Then smiling, she reminded him, "We have a long drive once we get home."

He reluctantly released her hand that he'd been holding. But first, he agreed, "Hmm. I can't wait."

* * *

 **A/N: For real. The next one is the last chapter of this story, and will close out this plot line.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Aaaaaand I'm back to this one. Last chapter for this story: The Tahoe chapter I originally promised (well… 17% promised).**

 **This story did not cease being rated M.**

* * *

It was a long drive from Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe. After a long flight back from the USS Van Buren in a very uncomfortable plane. Obviously, Deeks had kept his mouth shut on the flight with Hetty and Callen present. But Kensi had worried that during the nearly eight hours in the car together he would broach the subject of their relationship status again. She was pleasantly surprised.

They talked a lot about their usual bantering subjects, and a little about their personal lives. He let her control the radio when they weren't talking, and even the silences were comfortable. But he did not bring up the topic of what had transpired between them on the ship. This gave Kensi some more time to think about it, and decide how she wanted to bring up her feelings.

They had taken Deeks' truck, and as soon as they had gotten a couple hours out of the city and into the mountains, the beautiful scenery helped get Kensi fully out of Special Agent mode, and into the moment.

It was late afternoon when they arrived. Kensi's mom had been unable to come on their last minute vacation and Deeks left Monty with the cop buddy who had been taking care of him while they'd been gone. So they got a suite in the lodge instead of a cabin. Once they had settled into their room a bit, Deeks started filtering through the brochures and adverts for local attractions and restaurants.

Motioning out the window at their view of the peaceful lake, frosted trees, and snow capped mountains, he proclaimed, "This place is a bit farther from the ski hills than I would like, but you can't beat that view!"

Kensi walked over to the window to stand next to him and nodded in agreement. "It is beautiful. And well, I kinda figured we wouldn't really leave this room all that much."

"Oh?" he asked, turning to smile at her. "And what will we be doing, cooped up inside all day?"

"Well, for starters, I did promise you that we'd talk about… us. I owe you that much," she told him, facing him but keeping herself at a distance. At least until they got through this conversation.

"You don't owe me anything," he assured her softly. "But I'm all ears."

Kensi smiled at his sweetness. It was a risk having this conversation at the beginning of this trip, but she couldn't put it off any longer.

She took a deep breath and let it out before starting, "Honestly, I don't know, Deeks. I like you. A lot. I more than like you. And I think you already know that. But a relationship? With our jobs and our partnership? The idea of that makes me nervous." His face fell when she paused, so she added, "But I do like being with you."

Deeks nodded slowly. In an even tone he responded, "I know what you mean, and I agree… The thought of ruining what we have scares me. But, living with the regret of never going for it, of never even trying, scares me more."

"So I've been thinking, and I have a proposal— Ooh, poor choice of words. Scratch that," she corrected herself. Restarting, she said, "I have a _plan_."

"I'm listening."

"We've already crossed a line that we can't take back, right?" she asked.

"Right."

"So there's no point in even trying to pretend this never happened," she stated flatly.

"I'm with you so far," Deeks agreed.

Kensi stuttered a bit as she searched for the correct words and told him, "But, until we're a bit more… solid, we should keep this… I don't want to say casual, because I think we're beyond that too— But I know we're not ready to tell the others yet. Plus, I'm not sure it's allowed. Actually, I am pretty _sure_ it's against regulations."

"Agreed," he answered quickly. "Professional repercussions aside, I don't really want to deal with the pressure of everyone watching us so closely."

"Yeah, and offering advice or being nosey," she continued.

"Yeah," he affirmed.

"Yeah!" she repeated happily.

"So. That's it?" he asked. "That was easy."

"Much easier than I thought it would be," she shrugged, laughing along with him. "For now, at least."

Deeks messed up his own hair a bit as he stepped closer to her. Sarcastically, but with a genuinely happy smile, he told her, "We should really try this whole 'talking' thing more often."

"Whoa there, Shaggy! Don't get too crazy now," she joked. "Besides, I think now it's a good time for the other indoor activity I had planned."

"I am all for that," he agreed. Taking a large box of condoms out of his duffle bag, he added, "And this time, I brought a whole box."

"Well, you shouldn't have bothered," she informed him plainly.

"What? Why not?" he asked, clearly alarmed.

"Well, we don't really need them. Do we?" she asked him cautiously.

Deeks laughed in response and answered, "Wow. I was kidding about the whole 'popping out a litter of gifted mutant ninja assassins,' you know."

She rolled her eyes at him and punched his shoulder playfully. "I've got an IUD, you dork."

"You serious?" he asked, his face halfway between confusion and elation.

"Yeah. Why? Should I be worried? Is there something you want to tell me?" Kensi asked, already kicking off her shoes and unbuttoning her shirt.

"No," he assured her. "But isn't it better to be safe than sorry?"

"Usually. But, well…" she paused as she formed her thoughts. Stepping closer to him and placing her hands on his chest, she spoke in a low voice. "It's been a long time since I had sex without one. You know. Skin on skin. There's something… special about it."

Deeks gulped and met her steady gaze. His face relaxed into a warm smile, and he nodded slowly. Their lips met in a soft kiss, slow at first. Then as their mouths opened and their breathing deepened, their caresses intensified.

This man was intoxicating, and Kensi genuinely could not get enough of him. The understanding they had just reached only heightened the passion between them and the desperation with which they had started remove each other's clothes. Even at this early stage of their relationship, Kensi knew this level of excitement likely wouldn't last. But she had never felt this connected with someone, physically or emotionally, and so felt confident that even when they fell into a comfortable routine that there would always be heated electricity between them.

With their clothes discarded, they plopped onto the bed in a frenzy of exploring hands and tangled limbs. Kensi moaned into his lips as Deeks' fingers probed at the wetness between her legs. They made contact with her already swollen clit and threatened to take her to the edge before she was ready.

Her hand wrapped around his dick and found that he was equally overexcited. She made a move to roll him to his back so she could straddle him, but he stopped her, and pulled away.

He hovered over her and kept her arms pinned to the pillow she rested on. Already panting, he told her, "You are the sexiest thing I have ever seen, but hold up. I don't want to race for the finish line."

"I wasn't racing!" she insisted.

"Uh-huh," he agreed, humoring her. Kissing her lips again before dotting a trail of wet kisses down her neck, he told her sarcastically, "Sure you weren't. You're not competitive at all."

As punishment for his words, Kensi pushed him off of the breast he had been mouthing at, and hurried him further down her torso towards where she ached for his touch the most. Even with her fingers in his hair forcing him in one direction, Deeks was able to kiss and lick his way down her lithe body. And then he kept going. Passing over the heat at the center of her hips, he continued down her long legs, caressing the skin of each with both his hands and his lips.

Kensi groaned loudly in exasperation when she realized what he was doing; how he was teasing and tormenting her.

"Deeks, come on!" she pleaded with him.

But he just smiled back up at her and kept eye contact as he slowly, and deliberately planted his mouth on the inside of her knee. If Kensi hadn't been racing before, she was now. Yanking her leg from his grasp, she scrambled to turn the tables on him. Whether out of surprise or amusement, Deeks didn't resist when she pinned him to his back and attacked his mouth with hers. She used a free hand to grope around between them until she had his length in her grip again. Using her thumb, she rubbed at the sensitive tip of his now rock solid cock and he whimpered at the contact.

"I thought you wanted this to be special?" he asked. She pulled back to look at him better and he added, "Cuz I'm not gonna last if you keep doing that."

She released him, and with a playful grin answered, "Fine. Do it your way. But get on with it, because I need you right now."

He didn't try to argue with that. Gently, he rolled her to her back and kissed her slowly. All the frantic haste from moments before had dissipated, replaced with tenderness and passion. She cradled his hips between her legs, and let out a sharp breath when the underside of his shaft rubbed between her folds and against her clit. She moved her hips up and down to grind against him more. It was a fantastic feeling; almost as intense as his tongue or fingers. But soon the urge to feel him completely inside of her won out.

As if on cue, Deeks reached between them and slid the tip of his cock down to the tight entrance of her pussy. He pressed his forehead to hers and gazed at her intensely. Kensi struggled to keep her eyes open and staring back into his as he slowly pushed in. When the ridge of his head squeezed passed a certain point within her, a burst of pleasure caused her to suck in a sharp breath and throw her head back in ecstasy. Deeks chased after her and devoured her moan with a greedy kiss. Now sheathed all the way inside, he pulled out and started a torturously slow pace of long, deliberate thrusts.

At this leisurely speed, she could really appreciate how good he felt, how perfectly he fit inside of her. And she could actually feel the heat radiating off of the soft skin stretched tight around his stiff cock. It was a sensation she didn't want to end. So she just wrapped her legs around his hips and held on to him as his motions rocked both of their bodies back and forth.

After a few minutes, he snaked his arms beneath her and held her close as he rolled them over. Sprawled out on his body, she pressed her breasts flat against his chest and kissed him soundly in the momentary break they had taken. Kensi then leaned back and sat up on top of him, splaying her fingers out on his broad muscles.

She undulated her whole torso as she rocked back and forth, grinding her hips on his. Deeks groaned in response and gripped her thighs tightly. She could feel him getting impatient beneath her, starting to buck his hips up into her. So she changed from rolling just her pelvis to bouncing her entire upper body; lifting it up and letting it slam down onto him, taking him hard and deep each time.

She looked down at Deeks who stared at her mesmerized, a look of pure bliss on his face to match how she felt as well. He met her gaze occasionally, but mostly he stared transfixed at her breasts bouncing only inches from his face. Finally, the temptation proved more than he could resist and he sat up with her still in his lap so he could grasp one of them in his hand, while the other he sucked into his mouth.

Kensi had been so close to her peak when he sat up. She could feel the gentle throbbing start to increase in strength. His lips on her flushed skin were heavenly, but she let out a soft whimper as she tried to gyrate her hips and get just a little more friction where they were intimately attached.

She cupped her hands under his jaw and pulled him up for a kiss before speaking in a cracked, exhausted voice, "Come on, Deeks! More!"

Flipping them around again so she was on her back, he asked her, "You gonna come?"

"Yes!" she cried out in a harsh whisper.

No sooner had he started to move within her again, than the gentle throbs escalated into an explosion of trembling muscles and coursing pleasure that made her toes curl and her breath catch in her lungs. Every muscle of hers tensed as she clung to him, and he continued to move slowly as she let her climax run its course.

"So fucking beautiful!" he whispered against her lips.

Through her labored breaths, she continued to kiss him. Though spent, she started to rock her hips again, adding strength to the tingling aftershocks that still rippled out from her core. Deeks' face was contorted with the effort it took to restrain himself, and his muscles shook as he held himself above her.

"Deeks! Keep going, right there!" she encouraged him. "Don't hold back!"

He groaned as he picked up the pace again, "Oh my god, Kens!"

He moved with such speed now, that Kensi had a difficult time distinguishing his individual thrusts. It all blurred together in a nearly unbearable sensation of pleasure as he rubbed against her overstimulated clit. The sweet ache grew into a tight pressure within her again, and when she felt him quake and stiffen above her as his hot seed shot against her inner walls, a second wave of ecstasy was triggered in a flutter of inner convulsions.

Oriented the wrong way on their bed, the pair collapsed in a heap of sweaty limbs and heavy breathing. Deeks had buried his face between her breasts, and Kensi lay sated under his comforting weight.

It was several minutes before he finally shifted, and with great effort moved to the the head of the bed. She followed the warmth of his body, and crawled in under the covers next to him.

"Let's just stay in this warm bed forever," Deeks suggested, wrapping his arms around her rapidly cooling torso. "Just you and me."

"Fine by me," she agreed sleepily. "As long as we never have to squeeze into a tiny rack on that cold, dark ship ever again."

"And here I was going to suggest we go on a cruise for our next vacation," he replied, chuckling into her hair.

Kensi scoffed, and pulled back to look at him as she asked, "Do I seem like a luxury cruise sort of woman?"

"Who said anything about luxury?" he teased. "I was thinking we'd join a crab boat up in Alaska."

She laughed genuinely at his suggestion, and told him, "Well. You've had worse ideas. Like suggesting that we do it in a laundry room."

"That's still not off the table," he reminded her.

Kensi hummed her approval of the idea into the soft stubble of his cheek. Mouthing her way back to his lips as she pulled his body tighter to hers.

* * *

For the rest of their stay on the shores of Lake Tahoe, the pair rarely left their room. They ventured out for food, and to relax in the lodge's hot tub, but the ski hills on the mountains stayed forgotten in the background.

It had been a long time since Kensi had allowed herself to become so removed from the real world. But after a few days of peaceful ignorance, duty called— and so did Hetty to remind each of them individually that they were due to start work again the next day.

She wondered if Hetty had tracked their phones; if she knew they were in the mountains together. She considered the possibility of casually dropping that information when they got back, and trying to play it off as a partner bonding road trip.

The closer they got to LA on their drive home, the more worried she became. By the time they crested the coastal hills and descended into the city proper, she was gripped with a sense of dread.

Whether Deeks picked up on her anxiety or just wanted to hold her hand, she didn't know. But when he reached over and took her nervous hand in his, she immediately felt calmer. He had her back; she had his. They would face whatever might come, because now they were in this same boat together.

* * *

 **A/N: Having just posted a pair of season 9 stories, it was a bit of a jolt to switch back to the mindset of a season 4 "missed opportunity." And now, I think I'm going to jump back even further.**

 **Thank you all to those who came back to this story when I did. It was never meant to be so long. But I think it's time to leave this one here.**


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